Peep sight or Ghost ring?

[Revilo]

I have granddad’s Marlin 30-30. I wear glasses and I struggle with the butterfly open sights. Trying to decide between Ghost rings or Williams peep sight. A concern of mine with peep sight is low-light situations.....not being able to pick up the target. Anyone have real experience with either or both?

 

[InTheField]

No problem with the Williams side mounted peeps. Simply unscrew the threaded aperture and you end up with a "ghost" ring. Folks have been doing this for a hundred years. Best of both worlds.

 

[Chuck R.]

No problem with the Williams side mounted peeps. Simply unscrew the threaded aperture and you end up with a "ghost" ring. Folks have been doing this for a hundred years. Best of both worlds.

^
This does work really well.

For me, tgts up close where speed is more important than accuracy, ghost rings. Once the distance extends, then I prefer the precision offered by apertures. Low-light = ghost rings.

 

[PapaG]

Kind of depends on your target and distance. I, and many others, have shot at some pretty good distances with aperture sights. I tried a couple of hundred and two hundred yard groups with my Rolling Block buffalo gun one each with the screw in peep and the other using just the hole. For me, the smaller one worked better at 200 by a factor of fifty percent. At 100, difference was minimal. I, myself, wouldn't probably try hunting much beyond 150 with the peeps any more but I'm 75=and don't have the visual acuity I had when I was shooting those buffalo matches. (Black powder cartridge rifle).

 

[Ironhand54]

I put one of these on a 1892 copy. Combined with a ivory bead front. Works great. Marbles makes them.


IronHand

 

[Sistema1927]

I have XS Ghost ring on my 336 and I am very happy with it.

 

[Ks5shooter]

I like the XS as well on my 45-70.

 

[MistWolf]

A "Ghost Ring" is nothing more than a larger aperture. So, your real question is "What diameter aperture should I use?" The only way to know is to try them out. A smaller aperture increases depth of field (which sharpens focus), but reduces how much light passes through. A larger aperture increase the amount of light that passes through, but decreases depth of field. The ideal situation would be a small aperture and a bright sunny day- increased depth of field and more than enough light. How often do we shoot in ideal conditions?

For myself, I find that the small National Match aperture of my M14 is too small unless it's a bright sunny day. Overall, I prefer larger apertures because I can see through them even when the light is less than ideal. It's easier to be precise with smaller apertures, but larger apertures afford a faster coarse sight picture. With consistent cheekweld and good form, precision loss with a large aperture is minimized.

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

Is his rifle drilled and tapped on top of the receiver for scope mounting?

Todd.

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

A "Ghost Ring" is nothing more than a larger aperture. So, your real question is "What diameter aperture should I use?" The only way to know is to try them out.

Very true! One important variable is the distance between the sight and your eye when shooting. I have quite a few rifles equipped with aperture rear sights, and the size of the opening that works best for me is slightly different for each rifle (note the distances between the sight and the trigger in each of the attached photos.)

Very generally speaking, for me the further from my eye, the larger the aperture needs to be.

 

[PapaG]

I put one of these on a 1892 copy. Combined with a ivory bead front. Works great. Marbles makes them.
View attachment 903204

IronHand

I like that.

 

[chicharrones]

I have granddad’s Marlin 30-30. I wear glasses and I struggle with the butterfly open sights. Trying to decide between Ghost rings or Williams peep sight. A concern of mine with peep sight is low-light situations.....not being able to pick up the target. Anyone have real experience with either or both?

Like @InTheField mentioned about using Williams sights, I've done the same with the several Williams aperture sights I have on guns. Unscrewing the aperture could be done with Skinner sights, too.

However, for low light simply removing the aperture isn't enough for me. I need a white bead front sight, or I have to add a bit of white paint to the front sight. I've tried orange paint, and it's better than a black front sight in these situations, but white is better still.

I also have an XS ghost ring sight set on another gun. The front sight is excellent with the white painted line it comes with. However, that front sight is still blurry with my middle aged eyes since the ghost ring diameter is a tad large for my vision. In comparison, the ghost ring that comes on Ruger rifles like the Gunsite Scout is a tad smaller than the XS and works much better for me.

I ought to see if XS offers a different rear aperture that is threaded for different aperture inserts.

 

[dh1633pm]

I put an XS Ghost Ring on my 1892. Works for me. Its hard sometimes to find exactly what works best for you. The williams setup is nice, but I find the XS fast to acquire my target.

 

[0ne3]

I just put a tang sight on one of my rifle. It came with three differnt apertures. Bought it from Marbles. At 71 my eyes are not what they once were. I left the rear sight on. When I look through the tang sight, I can see the rear sight. It makes every thing clear. I was shooting in the center of the target. Been awhile since I shot that well.

 

[Ryden]

Yes, a small aperture increases focal length with is a blessing when the presbyopia starts to show itself

 

[H&Hhunter]

An XS ghost ring with a white line squared front post is one of the fastest and most useable iron sights there is when it comes to low light and rapid target acquisition. It takes a minute and some cycles to get super precise with them at range but it’s doable.

 

[Ryden]

+1

 

[mustanger98]

I have granddad’s Marlin 30-30. I wear glasses and I struggle with the butterfly open sights. Trying to decide between Ghost rings or Williams peep sight. A concern of mine with peep sight is low-light situations.....not being able to pick up the target. Anyone have real experience with either or both?

Just me, but I'd recommend the Williams and use their Twighlight aperture... the biggest diameter they offer. IMO, it gives a better picture than a ghost ring while giving near as open a field of view.

 

[CraigC]

I'll take a standard Williams Foolproof type receiver sight over a ghost ring any day. I tend to prefer a medium sized aperture and at the moment can't be any more specific than that. The FP can be a ghost ring by removing the aperture but a ghost ring will never be anything else.

 

[DocRock]

Tang aperture sight is best, if windage and elevation adjustable. Close enough to the eye that even in low light, it works well. After that, the Williams FP is great and, as described above, can be either aperture or ghost ring.

 

[Riomouse911]

If the ring is mounted where the rear sight usually sits, I find the Ghost Ring style works best for me (Ruger PC9 for example). For a receiver mounted sight, a slightly larger aperture in a standard peep serves me well when it gets dim (I have lever guns mounting Lyman or Williams sights).

Stay safe.

 

[Bfh_auto]

I like ghost rings on shotguns. I like the Williams FP, but I've never shot it in like light.